Veteran campaigner Dr Barbara Rafferty’s obsessive crusade to save the albatross on the Pacific atoll of Saint-Esprit suddenly gains international support when millions of TV viewers witness the shooting of her young acolyte Neil Dempsey on a foolhardy rescue mission. From the outpouring of support Dr Barbara begins to turn the deserted island into a sanctuary – a remote paradise for eco-enthusiasts, idealists and a growing number of the world’s endangered species.But as this sinister story unfolds it becomes clear that all is not as it seems in the ecological idyll, indeed, some species are much more endangered than others.Brilliantly unsettling in classic ‘Ballardian’ style, this is a novel in which all expectations are upset and all roles reversed.
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Rivka Galchen. Rushing to Paradise
J. G. BALLARD. Rushing to Paradise
From the Reviews of Rushing to Paradise:
Contents
Introduction by Rivka Galchen
1. Saving the Albatross
2. Protesting Too Much
3. The Dugong
4. The Shore Raid
5. Island People
6. The View from a Camera-Tower
7. The Rainbow Pirates
8. The Gift Mountain
9. The Ecology of Paradise
10. The Attack on the Beach
11. The Breeding-Station
12. Fever in the Blood
13. Hunters and Lovers
14. A New Arrival
15. Volunteers
16. A Banquet of the Fathoms
17. The End of Love
18. A Gift to a Death
19. Lilies of the Sanctuary
20. The Secret Door
The Sage of Shepperton. A biographical profile by Travis Elborough
About the Author
By the Same Author
About the Publisher
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‘Mesmerising and poetic … compulsive reading’
Financial Times
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Needless to say, she had forgotten to pack any repellent. Himself the son of a doctor, a London radiologist who had died three years earlier, Neil again wondered if Dr Barbara was a real physician. Through her damp shirt he could see the tattered underwear held together by safety pins, and the zip of her trousers tied into place with fuse wire. He followed her to the inflatable, which Kimo had readied for departure, its bows facing the sea. She sat on the rubber float, a worn hand touching the outboard, and stared in a bleak way at the waves. For all her calls to action, she seemed disoriented by the size of the atoll.
She rallied when Neil raised the camera and began to film her. A low cloud ceiling extended to the horizon, below which lay a grey, marbled air, the perfect film-light. Despite her ragged clothes, the sores on her lips and fraying hair, the camera lens instantly restored Dr Barbara’s confidence in herself. As always, Neil found himself drawn to this eccentric woman, and determined at whatever cost to protect her from reality.
